Meditate
with a daily devotion
Daily Light's Morning Reading
Praying in the Holy Ghost.—JUDE 20.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.—We . . . have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
The Spirit . . . helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.—This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.—When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.
John 4:24. -Eph. 2:18.Matt. 26:39.Rom. 8:26,27. -I John 5:14. -John 16:13.Eph. 6:18.
Spurgeon's Morning Reading
“Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.”
Hosea 12:12
Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil, “This twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.” Even more toilsome than this was the life of our Saviour here below. He watched over all his sheep till he gave in as his last account, “Of all those whom thou hast given me I have lost none.” His hair was wet with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night. Sleep departed from his eyes, for all night he was in prayer wrestling for his people. One night Peter must be pleaded for; anon, another claims his tearful intercession. No shepherd sitting beneath the cold skies, looking up to the stars, could ever utter such complaints because of the hardness of his toil as Jesus Christ might have brought, if he had chosen to do so, because of the sternness of his service in order to procure his spouse—
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“Cold mountains and the midnight air, Witnessed the fervour of his prayer; The desert his temptations knew, His conflict and his victory too.” |
It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban having required all the sheep at Jacob’s hand. If they were torn of beasts, Jacob must make it good; if any of them died, he must stand as surety for the whole. Was not the toil of Jesus for his Church the toil of one who was under suretiship obligations to bring every believing one safe to the hand of him who had committed them to his charge? Look upon toiling Jacob, and you see a representation of him of whom we read, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd.”
Old Testament Chapter a Day - Ezekiel 3
3. Warning to Israel
3
He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.2So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.3He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.
4 He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them.5For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel—6not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.7But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.8See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads.9Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.10He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears;11then go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God”; whether they hear or refuse to hear.
Ezekiel at the River Chebar
12 Then the spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the Lord rose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of loud rumbling;13it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a loud rumbling.14The spirit lifted me up and bore me away; I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat there among them, stunned, for seven days.
16 At the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me:17Mortal, I have made you a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.18If I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and you give them no warning, or speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life, those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity; but their blood I will require at your hand.19But if you warn the wicked, and they do not turn from their wickedness, or from their wicked way, they shall die for their iniquity; but you will have saved your life.20Again, if the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die; because you have not warned them, they shall die for their sin, and their righteous deeds that they have done shall not be remembered; but their blood I will require at your hand.21If, however, you warn the righteous not to sin, and they do not sin, they shall surely live, because they took warning; and you will have saved your life.
Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced
22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there; and he said to me, Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.23So I rose up and went out into the valley; and the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.24The spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me and said to me: Go, shut yourself inside your house.25As for you, mortal, cords shall be placed on you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people;26and I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be speechless and unable to reprove them; for they are a rebellious house.27But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God”; let those who will hear, hear; and let those who refuse to hear, refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
New Testament in Four Years - Matthew 12:1-8
12. Lord of the Sabbath
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
12
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.2When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.”3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?4He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.5Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless?6I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.8For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Psalm a Day - Psalm 106:34-48
106. Psalm 106
34
They did not destroy the peoples,
as the Lord commanded them,
35
but they mingled with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36
They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
38
they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
and the land was polluted with blood.
39
Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and prostituted themselves in their doings.
40
Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he abhorred his heritage;
41
he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42
Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43
Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes,
and were brought low through their iniquity.
44
Nevertheless he regarded their distress
when he heard their cry.
45
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
46
He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.
47
Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord!